Where to Recycle Electronics in Indianapolis, IN

Where to Recycle Electronics in Indianapolis, IN

How are you reading this article? Desktop? Laptop? Smartphone? Tablet? The average American household has an average of 24 electronic devices, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. With so many electronics, what are you going to do when they start becoming dated or broken?

We have created this helpful guide to help you better understand what electronics are recyclable and where you can take these items in the Indianapolis, IN area.

What is Electronic Recycling?

Electronic recycling is the process of reusing and repurposing broken, dated, or obsolete electronics. These electronics are also referred to as “e-waste.”

Instead of tossing it in the trash or throwing it in the dumpster, you can take advantage of electronics recycling. By recycling the devices that are broken or that you do not want anymore, you eliminate harmful waste from entering Indianapolis landfills and aid in building entirely new electronic devices.

To make the process easier for you, we have listed out the different electronics that can be recycled and where they can be dropped off in Indianapolis, IN.

Battery Recycling

There are many types of batteries that can be recycled, including rechargeable ones and those found in home electronics, cars, boats, and trucks. You know those batteries in your tv remote or child’s toy? All recyclable.

When batteries have reached the end of their useful life, they can be broken down and the different components and metals inside will be separated and used to manufacture new batteries or incorporated into other metal products.

These are the different kinds of batteries that are acceptable for recycling, according to Battery Solutions:

Lead Acid – commonly found in car batteries

Alkaline – these are your everyday AA, AAA, C, and D batteries

Lithium-Ion – this is found in rechargeable batteries like those in small electronic devices like iPhones and iPods.

Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd) – rechargeable batteries used for portable computers, drills, camcorders and other small battery-operated devices requiring an even power discharge.

Mercury Batteries – these are small button batteries used in laser pointers and Christmas ornaments

Zinc-Carbon – these single use batteries are commonly used in remote controls, flashlights, clocks, or transistor radios

Zinc-Air – these can be found in hearing aids and watches

Cell Phone Recycling

Before recycling your cell phone, consider donating it first if it is in good working condition. Many non-profit organizations collect cell phones to give to those who cannot afford a phone of their own. If the phone is broken, too outdated, or you wish to recycle from the beginning , then recycling is the way to go.

To do this, you can trade it in when you buy a new phone, mail it off to a phone recycling program, or drop it off at the nearest electronic recycling facility in Indianapolis, IN. A list of facilities can be found a few scrolls down.

Once recycled, the metals and components inside the phone will be separated out and used to make new phones or combined with other materials to make a variety of other products. Be sure to reset your phone to its original factory settings before donating or recycling it.

Computer Recycling

The average lifespan of a computer is anywhere between three to five years. With this short of a lifespan, you can imagine the large volume of dated computers out there. So the next time you buy a new computer, take the old one to be recycled.

When a recycling facility receives a computer or laptop, they will first evaluate it to assess if it is still in some working condition. If so, they will erase the hard drive and sell the computer off whole or in parts. If the computer is broken or obsolete, the hard drive is destroyed and the internal components like tin, silicon, iron, aluminum, and a variety of plastics are extracted and separated. They are then reused, which helps reduce the costs of constructing new computers.

So when it is time to upgrade and get a new computer, take it to one of the Indianapolis, IN electronic recycling centers from the list below.

Television Recycling

Televisions are great for when you want to relax in the evening and entertain yourself. But when those televisions find their way into a landfill, the real damage begins. When they are not properly disposed of, harmful chemicals, like mercury, arsenic, and lead, seep into the ground and cause irreversible harm to the soil.

Luckily, many states have created laws making it illegal to throw televisions into landfills. Indiana has such a law in place and it also includes many other electronic devices.

It’s important to take your television to a facility who knows what they are doing. If not extracted properly, the chemicals in many televisions can still harm the environment after is it recycled. Recycling centers will disassemble and separate the different metals and plastics inside the unit, like gold, lead, and copper, to be sold separately, reused in other televisions, or combined with other components to make several different products. With so many ways to reuse a television, recycling is the only option.

Wire & Cable Recycling

Take a look at all those cords coming out of the back of your television, desktop, and gaming system. All those wires and cords – recyclable!

Since Indianapolis, IN does not allow wires and cables to be recycled in their curbside pickup service, the best thing you can do is drop it off at one of the electronic recycling centers around the city.

When cords and wires are recycled, the brass, steel, copper, and plastic materials will be separated and cut to various sizes and lengths to be sold for use in other electronic devices.

So don’t forget to grab the accompanying wires and cables the next time you recycle your television or computer.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

We can thank electronics for many of the luxuries that we enjoy today. But when we don’t recycle them, they can end up doing more harm than good.

Researches are constantly finding new and innovative ways to reuse electronic devices, so the next time you have a device that is at the end of its useful life, take it to one of the electronic recycling centers in Indianapolis, IN.

Who knows, maybe that old heavy desktop could be part of the next great technological invention.

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